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Designer

Design and craftsmanship sit at the heart of everything we do

Dublin’s designers, from fashion and textile designers to architects and engineers, have enjoyed worldwide acclaim and recognition. Many of our most accomplished designers have used the city as their canvas, have produced iconic buildings, award-winning films and designs, and industry-leading and revolutionary software.

Dublin’s modern design history emerged in the first half of the 20th century. It began originally with a focus on textile, glass and ceramic production, where craftsmanship played an important role. By the middle of the 20th century, Dublin’s textiles and fashions began to be embraced outside Ireland. By the mid-1960s, graphics and textiles were the main sectors of Ireland’s design industry. With the reformation of the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and the growth of Regional Technical Colleges in the 1970s, design in Ireland began to expand and diversify, putting Dublin at the centre of the design boom of the 1980s.

Since the 1990s, technology has played a key role in Dublin’s design sector.

Some of Ireland’s most renowned designers are from Dublin, including the designer of the Audi A3, David Caffrey. With such a vibrant design culture in Dublin, the city has put forward an application to be designated by the World Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) as the 2014 World Design Capital. The bid is led by PIVOT Dublin, an initiative of the Dublin City Council. PIVOT Dublin is helping connect design and the community by promoting design as a resource that can help communities adapt, innovate and grow.